Rear Blade rear blade

[Anonymous Poster]

I just received delivery of my new TC33D. I originally was going to purchase a Landspride rear blade, but decided on a box blade(more use of this attachment at this time). How often do you use your rear blade, and for what purposes? I was thinking to purchase this at a later date for snow removal. I do not want to purchase a snow thrower. I do have a FEL with 60"HD bucket.

 

[hazmat]

I use mine to grade the driveway & landscape with. But I don't have a box blade. I Plan on using it for snow removal come wintertime.

 

[gbirky]

Just for reference, in case you haven't tried snow removal with an FEL, I can tell you it is no fun. Though you will get lots of practice with the FEL. I have a 16hp 4x4 Yanmar with FEL. The first winter I had it, I tried to clear our ~50ftx25ft driveway with it. It took way too long. Unless you have noplace to put the snow, and have to pile it up, the FEL is not the right tool. In which case a snow blower is the only tool I know for the job. I mounted a 42" front blade on the tractor (too narrow) and that worked far better for the snow up to about 18". It took me less than 1/4 the time with the blade as it did with the FEL.

A back blade works, but its tough on the neck. The front blade is the only way to go in my book.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks for the info. I need to decide on a front vs. rear blade. Is there a front blade that attaches to the FEL?

 

[shade2u2]

I use my box blade with my TC33 alot. I only use the blade for snow removal at this point...

 

[gerard]

There are front blades (curtis is one manufacturer) that replace the bucket. You use the curl line to control the angle. This is a better setup for snow removal than a rear blade BUT it is only for snow and they go for around $1500. I use a 7 foot back blade with skid shoes and also have a box blade (5 foot). I use the blade quite a bit and the skid shoes are a must for snowplowing. You can set it an inch high and plow right onto your grass without tearing it up. Same applies to gravel. I also used the blade to spead a 2 inch layer of sand on a horse arena. Set the skid shoes and drive, leaves a perfect layer. I'm in Syracuse NY, (115inches snow per year average) and I plow about 250 feet of circular driveway and another 2500 sq feet or so of parking area. For light snows (under 6 inches) I can drive forward and shed the snow to the left or right. For heavier snows I'll turn the blade around and drive backwards. I have R1's with chains on the rear and have not run out of traction yet. Not as easy as with a front blade but quicker than with a snowblower for most snows, a lot cheaper, and more versatile. (I tried to avoid an implement dedicated only to snow as they are expensive and have limited use). If you DO get a back blade DO get the skid shoes.

 

[BigDave]

I have a 5' Woods rear blade, and would like to use it for snow removal, does Woods or anyone else make skid shoes for this blade?

 

[Phred]

christy,

I bought a wimpy little rear blade (see attached).

I use it for road maintance and ditching.
A box blade would probably work just as well for most of the road work.
However, the rear blade is ideal for forming drainage ditches. A box blades' end plates would get in the way.
It also makes a pretty good bull dozer.

Around here we take the aproach that god provides the snow so god will take it away. Besides we don't get very much so this is not a major use.

Fred

 

[gerard]

I have a woods LB84 and bought the skid shoes from Woods so I assume they make them for the 5 foot also. They just bolt on, look like upside down mushrooms and adjust with washers.

 

[BigDave]

Thanks Gerard, I'll ask my dealer to order a set on my next visit. [grip]

 

[Fly_Rodr]

I have been using a 72" Landpride rear blade for snow removal on our 900' gravel driveway for 9 years with no problems. If the snow is light and the drive not frozen I've found it best to plow it in reverse. The FEL is mostly used to stack the snow up and to clear the piles at the end of the run from the rear blade. On occasion I spread gravel with the rear blade only because I do not have a box blade (yet /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). I live in the snow belt of NE Ohio and have never had the need for additional equipment, although there have been plenty of times that one of those cozy cabs would be nice. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[AZMike]

I too had the same decision to make and went with the 60 inch rear blade for my Kubota B7500. I use mine about once a month to maintain irrigation borders on my 5 acres. It also comes in handy knocking down brush

I also use it to move some dirt around in my cactus garden and driveway. A boxblade would be better for this but I need the rear blade more.

I can use the rear blade to actually lift dirt up on top of the border. With my tractor using the relatively lighter rear blade allows me to lift more dirt.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[BrettW]

Fly Rod,
Just curious if using the blade on a gravel driveway to clear snow doesn't plow up a lot of the gravel. I will have a decision to make soon as to a rear blade or box blade. Need to smooth several acres for grass, make a gravel dirveway 400 ft. But that is just about it for this implement, I could rent one but I'd like to own it. So does the rear blade plow up a lot of gravel when dealing with snow? thanks, bw

 

[Anonymous Poster]

That is why I went with a box blade vs. rearblade was for cutting out for a gravel drive and maintaining it. I also have a lot of land to grade plus topsoil. From other threads, it made sense to me to go with the box blade vs. rear blade. From my understanding, if you use skid shoes on the rear blade it will prevent/minimize gravel from being dug up

 

[chim]

Lived here for 13 years now, first half w/ garvel and remainder w/ asphalt. Until the B7500 came along last Spring, blades were the only way I had to remove snow. First couple years I used a front scraper blade, then went w/ rear blades. I did have to rake some stones out of the grass in the Spring sometimes, but it's surprising how little damage I did because of the combination of the driveway being well-maintained and frozen solid when the snow came. I never had skid shoes either.

My driveway is 300' long + turnaround. I do a couple of driveways for neighbors.

 

[B7500]

Chim,
Does your rear blade actually take the place of a snowblower? With my 300' driveway plus circle turn around I though I needed to buy a snowblower for my B7500. I assume a blade is cheaper then a front snowblower so I'd rather go that route if it works. Please keep in mind my driveway has crusher run on it.
Thanks,
-Terry

 

[gerard]

As CHristy said if you use the skid shoes and set them high you don't pick up much gravel at all. You will always get some as the mere action of the snow curling around will pull up some gravel but all in all it's pretty minimal and I don't think any other implement for snow removal will do much better on gravel. You just have to get out of the mindset of wanting to scrape ALL the snow away. Leave a topping and let it pack down. Once you get a nice snowpack it actually holds the gravel in place (less it melts of course!!)

 

[gbirky]

I guess I should add to the front blade comments I made with a bit more information. The front blade I mounted was free. It was given to me along with a lawn tractor (which it didn't go on by the way). It is very light, but perfect for my purposes. It is the type that has a long boom that goes under the tractor with a "U" shaped bracket for mounting to the tractor. I bolted two short pieces of rectagular channel to the loader sub-frame. The two ends of the "U" go up into the channel and I put a pin through the channel, the end of the "U" and the loader subframe.

I used two wire rope sheaves that came with the mid-mount mower and a long piece of 1/8" cable from the upper 3pt lift arms. The cable runs down to the sheaves which are mounted to the sides of the differential case - take a look at the attached photo. Then forward to two more sheaves up in front of the front axle. The cable then runs down to a piece of angle I "U" bolted to the boom just behind the angle pivot point of the blade. So the blade is lifted with the 3pt hydraulics. Basically this required almost no cost except for the cable and some scrap steel. Of course, without the sheaves from the MMM, it would have been more.

 

[chim]

Tawoo, the rear blade worked fine for me here in SE PA. Our Winters are usually no big deal. Last Winter I had to hurry out and plow before the sun took care of the snow. That was a milder Winter than normal. We have gotten blizzards here, and we sometimes have an "old-fashioned" Winter. Our snowfalls often range between 3" and 6" or so. The first year I had my Ford 1210, we had several good snows close together. I had a ball pushing each snowfall back getting ready for the next one. I have lots of open space along the drive to shove it back so I don't get boxed in. Our driveway looked as wide as an interstate from pushing it back. For 4-6" of light snow, I do most plowing by cocking the blade to the side and driving forward. For heavier snows, I rotate the blade and go in reverse. I use reverse to push the banks back before they freeze up into big hard lumps.

A couple years ago, the 1210 was out of comission, so I borrowed the in-law's Case 7120. I bushed the CAT 2 or3 3PH down for my teensy 60" blade. Wifey asked if it would work, and I told her everything would be fine - as long as I didn't snag something with the blade. The Case wouldn't even have known the blade was hooked. Anyhow, I always take care of a couple of other driveways when I'm out. One in particular belongs to a very pleasant retired couple. When they hear me coming, the SOP is for them to open their garage door so I can drop the blade inside and drag the snow away from the garage. The expression on the guy's face was absolutely priceless as he stood inside the opening garage door and looked way up where I was proudly perched.

As a practical matter, plowing with the Case was a lot more difficult than with the 1210. Heck, the tractor was twice as wide as the blade. It was a lot of fun anyway. (And there's a certain value in having the neighbors think you're crazy - it allows you a lot more latitude)

 

[Fly_Rodr]

<font color=blue>Just curious if using the blade on a gravel driveway to clear snow doesn't plow up a lot of the gravel...<font color=black>

When I first used the blade it scraped a lot, after playing with it for a while the gravel loss is minimal. You must adjust the blade so it does not have much bite and use the position control. You have to be careful until the drive freezes, as I mentioned above until it freezes its sometimes best to do it reverse.